Tag Archives: expats

At a time when a number of G20 countries have recently been tightening up on their visa programmes and other avenues used by foreigners seeking to work in within their borders, Thailand has approved a new four-year visa said to be aimed at attracting investment-minded entrepreneurs, skilled professionals and other skilled workers. The new “Smart […]

A Spanish bank has been ordered to pay hundreds of thousands in damages to an 80-strong group of expats over a failed off-plan development. A Majorca court ruled in favour of more than 80 buyers who had invested in the Cala Romantica development in 2006, via Sabadell Solbank, according to Spanish expat specialist website The […]

The United Arab Emirates has announced major changes to the country’s visa system, with the bulk of new requirements affecting expat workers. As part of a new set of security checks for expats arriving in the UAE, prospective workers will need to obtain a “Good Conduct and Behaviour Certificate” – effectively proof that they do […]

Saudi Arabia’s tough stance on what it deems as illegal expats has seen more than 330,000 arrests of foreigners in the kingdom in the last 12 months. According to official figures released last week, the Saudi authorities have so far deported 4,140 of the foreigners who got into the kingdom clandestinely following the end of […]

Rumours of the impending introduction a new tax on expatriate salaries in Saudi Arabia have been scotched by government authorities following a building social media campaign on the matter. According to local reports, the Saudi Ministry of Labor and Social Development has “categorically denied” social media rumors that expat workers will have to pay 10% […]

Saudi nationals and expatriates alike have started the new year with a jolt with a number of structural economic reforms including a major hike in fuel prices, the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) and the impact of the financial levy on expatriate workers all impacting on individuals at the same time. Twelve Saudi government and […]

Expats are increasingly demanding more extensive medical and lifestyle benefits that include flexible working arrangements and greater focus on wellbeing and mental health, new research has found. This comes despite concerted efforts being under way in some jurisdictions that are aimed at tipping the scales in favour of local workforces, and cutting back on “gold-plated” […]

Zurich International Life is urging consumers to become aware of the dangers of having a so-called “protection gap”, citing recent research it carried out which found that 75% of expats living in the United Arab Emirates have no provision in place to protect them in the event of illness, incapacity or premature death. Of those […]

Hundreds of thousands of expats have left Saudi Arabia since the start of the year, with more than a thousand per day quitting or losing their jobs in the region, as the kingdom’s plans to drive out expats and increase work opportunities for Saudi nationals take shape. According to official statistics, as many as 302,473 […]

Qatar’s Central Bank has loosened its strict banking and foreign exchange regulations for expatriates, as it bids to make the country more attractive to foreigners following the sanctions against it from other Arab countries. The under-fire Arab peninsular country is reacting to stem the flow of expatriate workers bidding to leave, following the move by a number of Arab countries […]

Saudi Arabia has introduced a raft of severe penalties for expats including large fines, deportation and up to six months in jail, if they violate the country’s labour laws, or if they are found to be working illegally. According to Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Passports, expat workers will face the newly-introduced severe penalties following […]

Almost 5 million British citizens are now living abroad – equivalent to 7.5% of the current national population – according to the latest statistics, despite a general slowdown in emigration. More than 1.6 million Brits have moved abroad in the past decade with Australia, Spain, USA, France and New Zealand the five most popular destinations, according to […]